June 30, 2017

While she hasn’t yet received a written request to do so, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver pledged Friday to not release voter information to President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

The commission, which is asking for copies of every state’s voter roll data as well as personal information including military status and the final four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers if included in the data, sent letters to all 50 states

“I will never release the personally identifiable information of New Mexico voters protected by law, including their social security number and birthdate,” Toulouse Oliver said Friday in a prepared statement. “Further, I will not release any other voter information like names, addresses or voting history unless and until I am convinced the information will not be used for nefarious or unlawful purposes, and only if I am provided a clear plan for how it will be secured.”

Toulouse Oliver previously criticized the commission as “a Trojan Horse used to justify partisan efforts making it harder to vote.”

NM Political Report asked Gov. Susana Martinez’s office whether she received a letter from the commision. Her office did not respond before press time.

His efforts to impose strict laws on voter registration and voting in Kansas have been met with multiple lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union. These include suits over his attempt to compare names on lists of voter rolls with Kansas state birth records to identify who is eligible to vote in the state.

Thursday, the White House announced Hans Von Spakovsky would join the commission. Von Spakovsky worked in the Justice Department under George W. Bush and has been one of the most prominent voices calling for stricter voter ID laws and other voting restrictions.

Toulouse Oliver, during both her 2014 and 2016 campaigns for Secretary of State, opposed instituting voter ID laws in New Mexico.

The scope of the commission and the commission’s request has also raised eyebrows.

Some states have refused to give the voter information to the commission.

In California the Secretary of State, Democrat Alex Padilla, said participating “would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach.”

The country’s most-populous state, with the largest voter rolls, was followed by Virginia and Kentucky.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said the state “will not aid a commission that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an attempt to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country.”

Utah’s lieutenant governor said Friday he would turn over voter information but not other sensitive information, such as the final four numbers of Social Security numbers, to the commission.

In Virginia, the governor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, also criticized the commission in harsh terms.

“At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump’s alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression,” he said in a statement.

In New Mexico, efforts to institute voter ID have largely struck out in the state Legislature, typically failing in their first committee hearing. When Republicans had a majority in the state House of Representatives in 2015, a voter ID bill passed the chamber days before the session adjourned, but died in the Senate.

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Public health orders restricting some businesses and public gatherings are slowly being lifted, but the New Mexico Supreme Court’s restrictions on eviction proceedings and limitations on civil cases in general are still in place. State Supreme Court Justice Shannon Bacon said she expects an increase of civil cases once courts are fully functioning.
“What we’re anticipating with the health pandemic and the downturn of the economy and a really high unemployment rate are issues that really raise their head in the same way they did in 2008 and 2009 with the recession,” Bacon said.

On Thursday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said racism is a “public health emergency” and that she would make examining government policies with institutionalized racism in mind “the center of my administration.”
She announced the formation of the Council for Racial Justice, which will be comprised of several African American community leaders, and she will appoint a racial justice czar. The council will include state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat from Albuquerque, NM Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Director Alexandria Taylor and the Reverend Donna Maria Davis of the Grant Chapel AME Church, along with others.

"Donald Trump Jr. visits private border wall amid immigration crisis, Mueller aftermath" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Donald Trump Jr. on Friday used every second of his brief visit to the border to defend his father and his administration, warn against the spread of socialism and alert a friendly Republican crowd that although his father's reelection next year should be easy, it won't be in the current political climate.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver encouraged all voters who wish to participate in the primaries to do so by absentee ballot. Toulouse Oliver spoke at a press conference on Friday, and noted that this election season is different than those in the past.
Related: State tweaks some aspects of Saturday’s reopening, including more allowed in places of worship
“For me, this would normally be a time as we are going into the early voting period here in New Mexico where I’d be extremely excited and say everyone should turn out in robust fashion to their early voting location,” Toulouse Oliver said.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said that “false claims of voter fraud” by President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions “are yet another disgusting attempt at voters suppression.”
Toulouse Oliver encouraged New Mexicans to vote on Election Day despite the statements. “The President is only trying to degrade confidence in our elections and discourage eligible voters from casting their ballots,” Toulouse Oliver said.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver was quick to react to the dissolution of President Donald Trump’s controversial commission that sought evidence of voter fraud. “This is a victory for the integrity and privacy of New Mexico voters,” Toulouse Oliver said in a statement Wednesday evening.

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A day after state health officials announced the highest single-day number of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, they announced 129 additional confirmed cases and five additional deaths related to the disease.

State Human Services Department Secretary Dr. David Scrase offered some data supporting the use of masks and social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The use of face masks in public has become a polarizing topic among some communities as the state has loosened its restrictions on businesses, including closures, over the last week.
While cloth masks aren’t suitable for use in healthcare settings, Scrase said they are still useful at preventing the spread of the illness among the general public.

Public health orders restricting some businesses and public gatherings are slowly being lifted, but the New Mexico Supreme Court’s restrictions on eviction proceedings and limitations on civil cases in general are still in place.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.